Most of you have no doubt heard of the case in Pakistan against a teenage girl accused of blasphemy for burning pages of the Quran. This case is a shameful example of how some people misuse Islam to commit a vile injustice. Not only is this girl a minor but she may also have Down syndrome or some other mental handicap. The blasphemy laws are frequently misused to settle personal scores but in this case, they are being used to terrorize innocent Christians. As such, I urge all to sign the petition below calling for the government of Pakistan to immediately release Rimsha Masih and to do more to protect the Christian community, as well as to ensure that the law is not misused by extremists or those who simply want to settle disagreements. It should be pointed out that many Muslim scholars in Pakistan have denounced the case against her. I think this case is an example of why the blasphemy laws need to be re-examined and amended.

Thanks for posting this, islamispeace. I am normally reluctant to give my email address to sites such as this, but I made an exception in this case and signed the petition. (Note that their privacy policy states, "Avaaz will send you updates by e-mail. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from our email list, you may do so by contacting complaints@avaaz.org with the subject heading 'unsubscribe.'")

Here is an interesting first-hand account from Ayaz Amir, who actually interviewed some of the people involved:

What is this case about? Groping for an answer I went into the maze of rundown streets which is the old locality of Mehra Jaffer just outside Islamabad where this supposed blasphemy occurred, and there met Amad the complainant in this case. In my mind I had imagined the glittering eye of the fanatic. What I found was a friendly guy slightly confused at the sudden attention he was getting. I asked him his education and he said he had studied up to class five, could read a bit but knew not how to write.

Amad runs a CNG car-fitting shop in the G-11 Market. In a room upstairs I sat with him and a few other car mechanics and put a few questions. Amad said he had spotted Rimsha carrying a few burnt pages in a plastic shopping bag which on closer inspection turned out to be pages from the Nurani Qaida, a helpful primer for mastering the Arabic alphabet, preparatory to reading the Quran...pages not from the Quran then, and spotted by a person who could not read.

Forget for a moment the technicalities of what was burnt, I said. Did he think the girl Rimsha had any quarrel with Islam? No, he said, the others too nodding their heads in agreement. So what was all the fuss about and how was the glory of Islam affected? They all looked pretty blank. Had Rimsha meant to hurt anyone’s sentiments? Again silence. Amad looked a well-meaning person but clearly out of his depth.

There is not much point to release her because demand which mostly foreigners. At first it an unidentified muslim lady and in here a mechanic and also the barking Imam. Releasing her just like that is the same as forgetting who is responsible. She need to be compensated by whoever is responsible, otherwise this kind of mess will never stop.

ISLAMABAD, Sept 2 — A Christian girl who was arrested under Pakistan’s controversial anti-blasphemy law may have moved a step closer to freedom on Sunday after police detained a Muslim cleric on suspicion of planting evidence to frame her....Masih was accused by Muslim neighbours of burning Islamic religious texts and arrested, but on Sunday police official Munir Hussain Jafri said a cleric had been taken into custody after witnesses reported he had torn pages from a Koran and planted them in Masih’s bag beside burned papers.

But it's not all good news:

“Pour petrol and burn these Christians,” said Iqbal Bibi, 74, defending the imam on the steps of the mosque where he preaches in Masih’s impoverished village of Mehr Jaffer.

“The cleric of the mosque has been oppressed. He is not at fault. He is innocent.”...

“If the cleric gets charged in this case we are all behind him. There will be unrest,” warned Tasleem Maqbool, a woman in a black veil who said her daughter saw Masih throwing away trash that included burned religious materials.

Do you know that actually still many people can not accept that Barack Obama won the election? There are people in Iran who could not accept that Ahmadineejad won the election? There are people who raised rebellion once Mursi innagurated as Egypt President? Can you believe few US marines walked out shooting people in their houses while sleeping? Can you believed that since the American invaded Iraq they say it is approaching a million casualties? Did you hear that the Burmese government back by the Bhudist Monks now contemplating to depopulate the Rohingyas pupulation? Do you know that the American drones are bombing Pakistan villagers pretty much daily by claiming they are Al Qaida? And now they are bombing the Yemenis?Do you know that Assad is murdering the Syrians just like his father when he destroyed the city of Hom? Do you know that the Palestinian is losing their lands they supposed to claim as their country? Dou you know that the American is holding billions of Iranian money for no reason? The list of injustices in this world is long believe me, but and but and but. I only assume you are a Pakistani origin, from Christian up bringing.

Btw what happen with that mysterious "Muslim Lady", she is the source of all this drama, the rest are just "her" byproduct, no?. I do so eager want to know who "she" is.

Do you know that actually still many people can not accept that Barack Obama won the election? ...The list of injustices in this world is long believe me, but and but and but.

I am not sure what point you are trying to make with this list of non sequiturs. If you're implying that this could happen anywhere, then I'm sorry but you're just plain wrong. It absolutely could not happen in my own country of Canada, nor in any other secular democracy I can think of.

There is no possible insult or "blasphemy" to any religion or culture that could precipitate this level of lawlessness among a civilized people. Murder or violence might be answered in kind, yes. Terrorism, ditto. But a baseless accusation that a little girl did something forbidden by the Prophet? Please!

I only assume you are a Pakistani origin, from Christian up bringing.

Btw what happen with that mysterious "Muslim Lady", she is the source of all this drama, the rest are just "her" byproduct, no?. I do so eager want to know who "she" is.

Probably Ammad's mother, but why pick on her? What about the imam (Khalid Chishti) who allegedly added the pages of the Quran to the girl's papers in an attempt to frame her? What about all the other imams who incite this kind of hatred every day? And what about the mindless mob of bloodthirsty savages who would be willing to burn little girls alive for any reason at all??

I am not sure what point you are trying to make with this list of non sequiturs. If you're implying that this could happen anywhere, then I'm sorry but you're just plain wrong.

You were commenting of what people in the street stood for in defending their leader with question: What is wrong with this people?, therefore I gave you examples what the people in the street think. Those three presidents won the elections yet there are people in the streets who refused to accept that reality.

Than I refocus to the main source of all this mess, the unknown "muslim lady" which was in the link you provide, and your response was:

You were commenting of what people in the street stood for in defending their leader with question: What is wrong with this people?, therefore I gave you examples what the people in the street think. Those three presidents won the elections yet there are people in the streets who refused to accept that reality.

Well, it does make a twisted kind of sense. They can't accept reality, and they can't change it. They can't attack the real causes of their frustration, most of whom are far away and unreachable; so instead they take their revenge on those in their midst over whom they do have power, even if they are innocent children. Is that the idea?

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